


beautiful clash

by bladeCleaner



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Could be interpreted as friendship/something more, Endgame, F/M, Spoilers, Spoilers for Act 6, Spoilers for Whole Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 03:59:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/845048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bladeCleaner/pseuds/bladeCleaner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How a swimmer and a Heir became close through doughnuts, bickering and escape. (Some things are worth the wait.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	beautiful clash

**Author's Note:**

> I WILL SHIP IT UNTIL I DIE. THE END.

The first time he sets eyes on Aoi Asahina he immediately dismisses her as just another commoner. None of these children are worth his precious time; Super High School Level? Ha! A bunch of peasants and lowlifes tossed from the gutter with the most useless of skills. He can see how some of them would be useful; the gambler, in particular, looks cunning, perhaps a partner he can use and discard in this game of ‘mutual killing’. The rest of them look to be nothing more than degenerates-one of them is even biker-street trash. He has no interest in any of them.

All of them so completely absorbed in their emotional attachments. It’s pathetic. Naegi Makoto is a nobody, reduced to unconsciousness over some pop idol-

He’s surprised when Mr. Good Luck actually solves the trial. He looks like just another ordinary student, useless and dime-a-dozen; but perhaps this is one to keep an eye on. This game is going to be fun.

\--

In truth, he was a little disappointed. He’d respected her determination to be the best. But all she ever turned out to be was just another hysterical woman, just slightly above the standard of Fukawa.

After the swimmer dares lay a hand on his face and then just runs away, he turns to face the cool-faced Kirigiri.

“Togami-kun... You seem to hold people's feelings in very low esteem, don't you?”

He shrugs. “What’s your point?”

“I'm just warning you. That kind of behavior may come back and bite you one of these days.”

“I welcome the challenge.”

He’d never had much use for emotions. Since he was a child he was raised to be the best of the best. Nobody in his class liked him, said he was only successful because he was a Heir-he’d been angry then. He’d gotten into fights, gotten bullied; when he came home he’d been slapped by his parents, saying he’d tarnished the family name.

“A Togami does not let his emotions control him! He is never vulnerable.” His father had said.

“Other people’s emotions are irrelevant. What matters is our image, our ambition, our success. Never disappoint me again, Byakuya. Disowning you is an easy matter for me.”

From then on he’d stripped himself of emotions and didn’t care for other people’s. If they didn’t have the same sense as him to rid themselves of them, why should he care?

\--

“That is... the truth?”

He feels the world begin to tip and his feet slide a little backwards.

“But, Naegi... how could you...? How could someone worthless like you reach this truth...? A truth... I couldn't reach myself...!”

He turns and sees Kirigiri’s smirk.

Emotions do have power.

\--

“Asahina... Why did you try to hide Oogami's death...? If you succeeded, you would also be executed...Why did you do that, even though you knew that?!”

He has never beheld this sort of incomprehension. The sheer sensation of having been defeated, of having underestimated the two people he’d learned to condescend to so well…

The unadulterated emotion that Asahina held for Sakura almost killed them all.

The stunning realization is a lightning bolt that hits him in the gut in the middle of the trial, rendering him speechless for a long while.

\--

With a grudging respect, he says, “Asahina and Oogami tried to sacrifice their own lives, and twisted the very core of this game. Thanks to them, no one is going to lie awake in fear of being murdered anymore.”

There’s no point in participating anymore. No more motives or games for him to play; it’s gotten boring. Besides, there are…other perspectives to consider now. Other variables.

He points at Monobear. “I will punish the mastermind that tried to control me!”

\--

For what seems to be the millionth time that week, he watches tears drip down the tan Asahina’s face. She’d tried to kill them all for nothing and that should make him furious-but as her voice trembles as she says, “So... can I at least have Sakura-chan's letter...?” he cannot help but feel a stab of sentiment in his heart.

He once said to Naegi that he too was able of compassion. Even now Monobear will not let her have what last vestiges remain of her. He may not be human, but even his heart is not that cold.

\--

“So what are we supposed to do now?”

He folds his arms and retains his perfect composure as always. “For the time being, there's nothing left to do but go up and return to the school.”

The idiot fortune-teller nods and they all make a move towards the elevator.

Behind them a soft voice goes, “B…but…I…um…”

Inwardly, he sighs. There’s been enough guilt-slinging for today, and even for a perfect Togami such as he, he is tired.

“How foolish. I wish you'd cease the self-pity act. A mystery someone as incompetent as you came up with wasn't such a big deal. There is no way it had a chance of killing someone like me...”

Still, she’s not mollified. “I'm... really sorry...”

“How many times are you going to apologize? Let that be the last time. I am not in enough distress that I need to hear your endless apologies...”

Naegi notices that as he says that, he’s not looking at her. Rather, he looks slightly uncomfortable staring off to the side. If he didn’t know better, he would think that Togami looks a little guilty as well. He did imply that they would be better off if Sakura died.

“Y...yeah... I got it...S...So... We can move on, can't we...?”

He makes a curt nod, but before she can register it Syo’s butted in and implied that their relationship has improved.

He’s already opening his mouth to shut her up, but Asahina’s voice-her real, bubbly voice, that’s different from her pathetic, piteous whine-bursts out.

“W...What are you saying!? There's no way I'd...!! Who'd even want to... with those ugly glasses of his...!”

She’s furiously blushing red. He’s a little insulted; actually-a LOT insulted. Does she think him beneath her for a relationship? Is that it? She would be lucky to have him! Not that he’s ever considered her as a viable prospect...

“Ugly... glasses...?”

The pathetic puppy-dog look has completely disappeared from her face and she’s gotten riled up again. It’s almost a welcome sight to see her full of energy again, if it wasn’t for the fact that she’s slighting him.

“They're ugly, so I can call them ugly if I want to!”

Behind them, Hagakure can be heard murmuring, “Ugh, thank God she’s back to normal again,” and Naegi stifling a laugh. Kirigiri’s cocked her head and looks to have the slightest smile around her lips.

“You really are looking for someone to get rid of you, aren't you?” Without noticing it, he’s warmed up to the challenge again, consumed by righteous fury. The nerve of this woman!

“Back to your nasty ways, I see. You don't have any friends, do you?” Her confidence is back in spades and the nonchalant shrug she gives him is infuriating.

They bicker all the way up to school until Fukawa drags him away, yelling, “Byakuya-sama is mine!”

For what feels like the first time in ages, Asahina laughs. “They deserve each other.”

Naegi marvels at how quickly she seems to have recovered. She did just lose Sakura, after all…

He finds Kirigiri’s hand on his shoulder. She’s got that slight smile on, shaking her head, as if to say: _Those two are really a mystery._

\--

That morning, there’s a knock on his door.

“Fukawa, if you do not leave me alone I will-”

He’s stopped mid-sentence when he sees that it’s Asahina.

“Oh. It’s you. Do you have business with me? The breakfast hour doesn’t start for another quarter-hour.”

She looks awkward and her face is flushed again. Her arm’s absent-mindedly rubbing the other sleeve of her red jacket.

“Um. I just wanted to say something.”

He rolls his eyes. “What now?”

“I…wanted to thank you for forgiving me for…and…”

He lets out a sigh.

She blurts it out in one sentence. “I’msorryIcalledyouinhumane.”

He’s taken aback for a second before composing himself. He doesn’t say anything, only raises his eyebrows as if to say: “Is that it?”

“Am I supposed to thank you?”

She gapes for a minute and then snaps into irritation, her hands in fists at her sides. “I’m trying to compliment you, you jerk!”

“You took back your insult. That’s not a compliment."

She crosses her arms. “It’s a compliment to say that someone like you has a human heart.”

He crosses his arms as well before he realizes that he’s essentially mirroring her. He forces them by his side before he glares at her.

She sticks out her tongue and he resists the urge to do the same. “How immature.”

She throws a paper bag at him and he’s tempted to throw a book at her head before he realizes what it is.

“You’re giving me one of your donuts?”

He’s not been the most sociable of the group, he knows, but even Fukawa knows how much she loves them.

She sticks her tongue out at him again.

“I’m giving everybody at our table as one! For promising not turn on me even though…yeah…um…”

“Do not confuse my decision to withdraw from the game as-”

She waves a hand at him dismissively. “Donuts are the best present ever so it was the first thing that came to mind. I would have made them myself, but they don’t have any dough in the kitchen, no matter how hard I looked. If you don't want yours-" 

He’s still stammering over the shock of being interrupted, but he clutches the bag to his chest a little too quickly. She beams, a knowing gleam in her eye.

She looks at the wall clock in his room, peeking over his shoulder.

“Is that the time? I gotta go!” she breaks into a full sprint down the hallway towards the kitchen. “See ya later!”

He pinches the skin between his eyebrows. All these insufferable people are so different from what he’s used to.

He closes the door behind him and looks inside the paper bag. The circular pastry is something he’s seen in TV shows, of course, but he’s never had such common fare before.

He bites in and finds that the delicious jelly explodes in his mouth with sweetness.

Asahina catches him stealing one of her doughnuts again after breakfast is long over. She giggles slightly to herself and thinks that she’ll forgive him this time. (But the next time, he’s on for a fight.)

\--

When it comes to the crunch, Aoi sees Naegi waver in the face of Junko’s ultimate despair. She’s a raving lunatic, her eyes spirals of ecstasy, saliva running down her face-but her words come out clearly.

“Ahaha... Ahahahaha!! I never really cared about losing! After all, it's all the same if you win or lose...The outside world is Despair, and this school is also Despair! There's nothing but Despair for you bastards!”

She sees him hesitate. His eyes are dim and he tries to stammer out the words, full of doubt, “Y-you’re wrong…it’s not…”

A confident, smooth voice rings out, “…It’s not like that at all!”

Naegi, off-balance by this sudden support, says, “Eh?”

Even Asahina’s shocked as she turns to look at him. The cold, high-and-mighty Togami, throwing in his vote for Hope after all? Even after his whole act about not caring about sentimentalism? The world must have ended, for this to occur!

Full of confidence, he looks at the mastermind head-on. “We’re not afraid of despair anymore.”

Heartened, she declares, “Yeah! We have "hope", you see! We all decided to leave this place!”

Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all.

\--

“I hate small annoyances. Nevertheless, if you're ever in trouble you can come to me. I can't promise I'll help, though.”

She smiles at him and puts a hand on his shoulder. To her surprise, he doesn’t flinch or swat her way, only looks at her with a steady gaze. Calm to the very end.

“You can come to us too if you’re in trouble! We’re friends now, aren’t we?”

To his surprise, she even kisses him on the cheek. It's a fast peck, angled so that Fukawa can't see, so quick that he barely feels her lips on his skin. She flushes and looks away quickly. He flushes a little himself, before abruptly pushing his glasses up on his nose. Still-

“-Friends.” He tastes the words on his mouth. For some reason it feels alien, and yet, with these five commo-people standing around him, having gone through so much with them all, he thinks that it feels strangely like coming home.


End file.
